Walmart Expands Centers of Excellence Benefit To Include All Cancers

At a time when cancer is one of the top drivers of costs for employers, Walmart is taking action.

The retail giant announced Wednesday that it is expanding its Cancer Centers of Excellence (COE) health benefit to include “virtually any cancer.” A Center of Excellence is a group of people who specialize in a certain area, and Walmart’s Cancer COE is provided to Walmart’s employees and their dependents in partnership with Mayo Clinic. Walmart has about 2.1 million employees worldwide and 1.6 million employees in the U.S., according to its website.

For the last decade, the Cancer COE program focused on some of the most prevalent cancers, such as breast, lung, colon, prostate, pancreatic and blood cancer. Now, employees can access the same benefit for a whole host of other cancers, including bone, pituitary, liver, thyroid, central nervous system and gynecological.

Through the program, employees or dependents diagnosed with cancer can connect with the Cancer COE through their medical plan. Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic will then review the patient’s diagnosis, pathology and treatment plan. Based on that analysis, the provider could either let the patient know that it believes the local doctor’s treatment plan is the right course or recommend that the patient come to Mayo Clinic for evaluation or treatment.

“We are thrilled to expand our longstanding relationship with Walmart, now providing a Centers of Excellence program for their associates that includes virtually all cancer types,” said Lyell K. Jones, Jr., MD, consultant and professor of neurology at Mayo Clinic and medical director of contracting and payer relations, in a statement. “In working directly with employers like Walmart, we can remove barriers to high-quality care and deliver the best possible outcomes to more patients every day.”

Those who receive support from Mayo Clinic will not have to take on any costs and will have travel and lodging covered (including for one caregiver). This is important considering more than half of cancer patients and survivors have medical debt, according to Lisa Woods, vice president of physical and emotional well-being at Walmart Total Rewards.

The expansion of the Cancer COE benefit comes as cancer incidence is increasing. The American Cancer Society projects that in 2024, there will be a record of more than 2 million new cancer cases in the U.S. In addition, more people are getting cancer at younger ages, according to Yale Medicine.

Healthcare costs are also increasing, and cancer is the most reported condition driving healthcare costs for large employers in 2024, according to a recent survey from the Business Group on Health. The survey also found that 49% of respondents will have COEs for cancer in 2025, and 75% are considering it for 2026 or 2027.

By expanding access to cancer support, Walmart ultimately aims to improve its employees’ health, Woods stated.

“Our goals with this expansion align with our ongoing commitment to support the health and well-being of our associates,” Woods said in an email. “We always aim to create a clear path to quality care for our associates – especially when they are facing some of the most physically, emotionally, and financially stressful times of their lives, like receiving a cancer diagnosis.”

Photo: Nataliia Nesterenko, Getty Images